Return of the water vole

Once widespread across the UK, water voles have suffered a dramatic decline over the last century, making them close to extinction.

The tiny mammals were almost wiped out by escaped populations of American mink and by loss of habitat.

We're part of an ambitious programme to reintroduce the water vole. We're working with:

• NatureScot (formerly Scottish Natural Heritage)
• Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park
• Forth Rivers Trust
• Royal Zoological Society of Scotland 

More than 1,000 water voles have been released into Loch Ard forest in Stirlingshire. These water voles have come from a captive breeding programme. Today they are thriving and even colonising new areas.

Before reintroducing water voles, we had to make sure the conditions were right. That meant improving an extremely important habitat known as the ‘riparian zone'. A narrow strip of vegetation beside lochs, ponds, rivers and streams.

The riparian zone helps to stabilise riverbanks, cool water and provide shade. Native trees, shrubs and plants in the riparian zone provide food for many species of animal. They can also trap sediment and absorb nutrients, reducing the amount of pollutants getting into the water, and provide a home for many different insects, birds and mammals.

In Scotland, this wasn’t always the case. In some forests, conifers were planted too close to the water’s edge. This causes deep shade and, in some cases, acidification of the water.

Today, we are opening up these areas and holding the treeline well back from the water’s edge. This allows natural vegetation to recover. As a result, many species have benefited, from tiny invertebrates, salmon and trout to otters and birds of prey.

As well as improving habitat, we’ve also trapped and removed mink in the area to reduce predation of water voles. This has been good for water birds such as little grebe and moorhen too.

Life is still dangerous for the water vole. They’re eaten by lots of mammals, birds and fish. Thanks to our efforts, their future is looking much brighter.

Facts you might not know about water voles

• the UK population of water voles has declined by more than 90% since the 1950s
• water voles feed on more than 200 different species of reeds, grasses, rushes, herbs, shrubs and trees
• the average lifespan of a water vole is only five months. They’re eaten by mink, stoats, weasels, foxes, badgers, buzzards, kestrels, owls, large fish and more
• water voles make their homes in the riverbank – often with secret underwater entrances